


The Sisters of the Citadel

by Thorinsmut



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Abortion, Acceptance, Age Difference, Boundaries, Comfort, Complete, Cunnilingus, F/F, Flashback, Fluff, Kissing, Ladies supporting ladies, Love, Mourning, Oral Sex, Panic Attack, Past Sexual Abuse, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Semi-Public Sex, Sexual Intimacy, Trans Character, Unintentional Voyeurism, abuse recovery, character briefly triggered by a trans woman's body, chosen family, everyone is consenting adults, lesbian poly pile, making a better world, mentioned past food limiting, mentioned self-surgery, nonsexual intimacy, sex negotiations, the Valkyrie lives, trans woman!Furiosa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-06 07:32:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4213278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They renamed themselves sisters when they returned to the Citadel. They returned by choice to the place they'd been taken by force as chattel, but no longer to be anyone's property. Not ever again. They returned to to live and to rule.</p><p>They were bound together for survival, by loss on the fury road, and they named themselves Sisters. The Sisters of the Citadel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hobbitdragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbitdragon/gifts).



They renamed themselves sisters when they returned to the Citadel. They returned by choice to the place they'd been taken by force as chattel, but no longer to be anyone's property. Not ever again. They returned to to live and to rule.

Toast punched the throat of the first man who tried to call them the Wives – a move the last of the Vuvalini had taught her. They were not wives. Miss Giddy had taught them that much. A wife was an equal partner, was free to choose who she wanted to be partner to, and free to stay or to go. They'd never been wives, they'd been slaves, and they were not anymore.

They were bound together for survival, by loss on the fury road, and they named themselves Sisters. The Sisters of the Citadel. The last of the Vuvalini laughed her hoarse cracked laugh when she heard it. Mags, her name was.

"Sound like a convent of nuns," Mags laughed.

"Good," Capable answered with her chin square and hard, after Mags had explained what a nun _was_. Or had been, before the world was broken. Good women, full of grace and mercy. Independent women answering to no man. Untouchable women, with their strongest bonds to each other.

It made Cheedo feel brave, with the fire in her bones that had lit on the fury road – when she did what was needed to protect her sisters. She needed to be brave, in those early months after they took the Citadel. When everything was strange, and hard, and uncertain. Furiosa was down with her injuries, not able to do much, and the Sisters had their hands full figuring out how the Citadel ran and how to run things better – so everyone had what they needed and no one was hurt.

Capable found her mother, Betany, among the Milk Mothers, who were not forced to that life any longer. Her mother also had with her  a little baby sister called Spirited, with big brown eyes and a sweet giggle. She might have ended up in the Vault too, if they hadn't changed the world. Capable’s brothers could not be found among the war pups, but they took the pups in anyway. They took them all in, children who did not any longer have to hope only for death. Who did not have to wear paint that slowly killed them any more. Furiosa had figured the poison paint out – long before she and Miss Giddy got together and figured out it was made with lead, and lead was poison in the blood.

Toast trained as a fighter and blackfinger, learning guns and engines and blows to take down anyone no matter how much bigger they were. She learned from Mags when Mags would teach her, and Furiosa once she was better – and the Valkyrie and the pair of Vuvalini who'd all three limped to the Citadel using each other for support in the days after the victory, Ava and Zahra.

Toast wasn't the only one who wanted to train with the Vuvalini. Even recovering from injuries, they and Furiosa made themselves a new fighting force. The Vuvalini were fast and canny, and they were the Citadel's new line of defense.

Sisters they named themselves as well. Cheedo did not fight, but she heard them talking: 'We are the Vuvalini, and we are sisters, and we are strong.'

Sisters the former milk mothers named themselves as well, as they took up other work in the gardens, or healing, teaching, or fighting, or building. 'We are mothers, and we are sisters, and we are strong.'

Among the men, those who had not gone and died on the fury road, and the little boys who had been war pups, there were other whispers. They were not sisters, but they served the sisters. Miss Giddy, whom they would all mourn so deeply, had taught them the strength of stories. The Valkyrie told stories of the brother bands who'd once ridden and fought beside the Vuvalini in the old green place. Capable told the story of Nux, of the sweet little brother she'd found so briefly – of his strength, of his kindness and sacrifice, and Cheedo heard it echoing back in the whispers.

'Brothers. We are the brothers to the Sisters of the Citadel, and they are strong, and we are strong with them.'

Sisters, Cheedo heard in every corner of the Citadel. Sisters all, and strong in their own ways. It was better than Cheedo had dared imagine the dream of the green place would be.

"I love my sisters," Cheedo said. They _could_ love now, all of them. They were strong together and would not be torn apart. Furiosa was the sister closest to her, and Cheedo squeezed her short arm while she said it, leaned in close to rest her cheek on Furiosa's steady shoulder.

Furiosa froze for a moment, her breath catching.

"I am your sister?" she asked. Quietly, as though she did not believe it.

"Of _course_ you're my sister!" Cheedo told her. Their other sisters heard them, and in an instant Furiosa was surrounded by hugs and kisses to her cheeks as everyone promised her she was. How could she not be their sister, after all they had been through together on the fury road? They were bound together in love and sorrow. Furiosa just held them, touched their cheeks and rested their foreheads together, and smiled as though she would cry.

They were sisters, and they were strong together. Even Cheedo, who had never been strong, was strong with her sisters. She had been named 'fragile' but that was not her. That was what someone who wanted to take her strength from her had named her. Cheedo often worked alongside the Dag in the gardens, when the Dag was not off with the other far-seers keeping watch on the world from the tallest spires. The Dag saw far and not near, she could not easily read or see fine details of the little seedlings she tended, but she loved them all regardless. The Dag saw far, and at night when Cheedo curled up together with her she would whisper of a future where everyone had a full life, and everyone had enough to eat and enough water to drink. They kissed and held each other – the gentle touches they'd shared when they were captive to remember there was still kindness in the world, and more – and planned how to build the life the Dag could see. Cheedo saw close, and the Dag saw far, and maybe together they could find a way to fix at least a little of the broken world.

Toast joined them in their nest sometimes, and they admired how strong her body was growing. Her hands were tough with callouses, her arms and legs swelling with muscles, her once-soft belly hardening, but she was still their Toast. Their sister, and they loved her and she loved them. Her kisses were still halfway biting, her cuddles halfway wrestling until the Dag finally managed to get her long fingers into Toast's armpits and then she was all softness and giggles. After that the three of them would devolve into stroking and kissing and moaning until someone inevitably threw a pillow at their heads and told them to go to _sleep_ already.

They were all changing, with the changes in their lives. Capable was growing rounder, just like her mother, now that she was not prevented from eating as much as her body wanted. Furiosa smiled more, surrounded a sister among sisters and a daughter among mothers. Cheedo did not know how she herself was changing, just that she did not feel like there was something horrible hanging over her head anymore.

The Dag changed less than she might have. Her long arms and legs grew stronger from tending the gardens and from climbing up the watch-spires, but her belly did not grow rounder. The pregnancy had failed, as most pregnancies caused by the old ruler did, and no one said anything of it. Cheedo had been there, though. She'd been there to hold the Dag's hand and stroke her white hair while Zahra and a few of the mothers who now worked in the now clean and bright hospital explained how to make sure it ended. Among the Vuvalini, there were no unwilling mothers – and there would be none in the Citadel either. The Dag held tight to Cheedo's hand and nodded, and held Cheedo even tighter still when the concoction she was given worked and her body ached with the hardest bleed of her life.

"Worth it," the Dag hissed, even in the worst of the cramping and pain, and Cheedo kissed her forehead and held her when that was all she could do. The Dag was lighter when she recovered, laughing easier now that she would never have to carry anything of that _shlanger's_ , in her own words. No one said anything about the 'loss' of that unwanted pregnancy. It was not unexpected.

There were long hours of hard work, so much to get done to protect the Citadel and take care of all the people who called it home, so much to ensure the future – and Cheedo was happy. They were building a better world. She had her sisters to hold and be held by, the Dag and sometimes Toast to kiss and cuddle and lay with at the end of the day.

Angharad, her heart held in her sisters' hearts forever, had never wanted to lay with and touch her sisters. Capable had only rarely, when she needed the most to forget, and not often anymore now that they were not being hurt. Cheedo was just as happy with the Dag, whose long slender fingers could reach even through the teeth of the belts they'd once been forced to wear and were far more clever without having to – and occasionally Toast when she was in the mood.

It had not occurred to Cheedo that _Furiosa_ could be kissed as well, until well after their victory. When Furiosa and the Valkyrie were both still recovering, limping through the Citadel arm in arm, Cheedo saw them kissing more than once. Furiosa kissed gentler than Cheedo would have expected – soft mouth against the Valkyrie's and shuddering through with a whimper at the touch. It was too intimate to be watched, and Cheedo crept away and let them alone.

She wondered, though, how it might be the same and different with Furiosa. The thought of lying with Furiosa scared her, sometimes, knowing that Furiosa was strong and deadly-dangerous – afraid that Furiosa would grope and take and own if given the chance. Sometimes Cheedo couldn't stop the scared racing thoughts, but she knew Furiosa wasn't like that. Furiosa was her sister, and the Vuvalini valued choice and relationships balanced in power – not tipped to favor one at the cost of the other. Toast was growing dangerous too, but she was still just their  _Toast_ when she was in Cheedo and the Dag's bed.

And even if Furiosa weren't trustworthy, Cheedo had choice now. She knew her sisters would stand around her and keep her safe, just as she would do the same for them. They were strong together.

Cheedo mostly enjoyed imagining kissing and lying with Furiosa. She thought she might try it some time, see if Furiosa wanted to, but she was not in a hurry. She had the Dag and sometimes Toast, but it was nice to watch Furiosa in her growing recovery and imagine.

Cheedo accidentally saw Furiosa with Mags one time. She hadn't meant to. She'd just been visiting with Toast in the mechanic shop and volunteered to tell Furiosa when a mechanic said the new mechanical arm was ready to be fitted and tested again. She heard Furiosa was with Mags when she went searching. There was very little real privacy in the Citadel, how they'd set it up. The Vault was no longer a vault – the door had been removed and recycled for parts, the rooms converted to library and offices and schoolroom. None of the Sisters could bear to live there anymore. They slept instead in a loose bunkroom, all close to each other. The Vuvalini had a bunkroom of their own, and the Mothers another, though women flowed from one to another as they liked. No one had a room of their own.

Cheedo tracked down Furiosa and Mags tucked away in a back office. She heard Mags' hoarse voice saying something, and the words didn't become clear to her before she came around the corner and saw them.

Mags slumped down in a chair with her legs spread, Furiosa kneeling in front of her. Mags' wiry fingers in Furiosa's short hair, rubbing down to her neck and shoulders, and the soft words repeating. "Good girl, just like that, you're so good, that's my baby girl..." Furiosa's entire body trembling, little moan in her throat and her hand between her own legs, rubbing herself through her clothes as she used her mouth on Mags.

Cheedo turned and ran. She hadn't meant to see, and she didn't want to have seen. She didn't care so much about seeing, she didn't want to have _heard_ , mostly. The words buzzed around Cheedo's head, 'good girl' and 'little girl' and 'pretty girl' and 'baby girl' and it wasn't Mags' voice, it was _his_ voice. It was his greedy eyes all over her, always watching her, and his filthy hands all over her and he'd be angry if she pushed him away and....

Cheedo was nearly screaming by the time she ran into Capable. The Dag was up in the watch spires or Cheedo would have gone to her, it was just luck she found Capable. Once Capable and the mothers she was with realized that Cheedo was not in any real danger, that no one had threatened her, they just held her. Cheedo buried her face against Capable's neck, where she'd always been safe, and cried. Her sisters had taken worse than she had in the old days, she shouldn't be crying, but Capable just kissed her forehead when Cheedo tried to apologize for it.

"Because someone else hurts more, doesn't mean you don't hurt," Betany soothed, warm and soft holding her. "You're safe now, let it out. Your mothers and sisters are here for you."

Cheedo was held until she stopped crying, until the awful words stopped circling and stabbing at her, until she knew she was safe again. Little Spirited brought her a cup of water, and made her laugh, and Cheedo was alright. She still felt tender and raw, though, so she stayed close to Capable and the mothers and children and helped with the teaching until the Dag came back from watch.

Cheedo kept a closer watch on Furiosa for days after that, especially around Mags. She needed to be sure her sister was not being hurt. It did not seem like Furiosa was, though. She smiled at Mags when she caught sight of her, and sought Mags out to be close to without Mags seeming to give her any prompting. Mags would chuckle and bump her hip against Furiosa's thigh, little touches and affection passed between them. They smiled at each other with their eyes, soft and secret, just as affectionately as Furiosa did with the Valkyrie.

It seemed like the words that hurt Cheedo did not hurt Furiosa.

It was some time before Cheedo started wondering about lying with Furiosa again. It was less scary, when she did. Furiosa had not been taking and owning at all. Furiosa was deadly-dangerous in a fight, she worked hard to protect the Citadel, but she was gentle among women who were gentle with her. Furiosa was soft with the Valkyrie and with Mags, and she had only love for them when her Sisters cuddled her.

Cheedo thought she might like to try kissing and lying with Furiosa, if Furiosa liked, but she was in no hurry. First she watched, and waited.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be aware of the changed warnings and tags on this fic
> 
> Many thanks to HobbitKaiju for allowing me to use their excellent trans Furiosa headcanons  
> http://hobbitkaiju.tumblr.com/post/119294108503/so-how-about-trans-furiosa

Toast was the first of the Sisters to kiss Furiosa. Cheedo heard about how Toast climbed up on Furiosa's bike after a patrol and kissed her – after asking permission, of course. They were often together, with Toast learning and teaching and helping. It made sense that she was the first to go with Furiosa. Cheedo watched them with their heads bent together, going over Furiosa's new mechanical arm trying to make it as perfect as it could be, and then forgetting the arm entirely. They kissed, and Furiosa laughed when Toast bit her. Cheedo smiled and left to give her sisters privacy.

Toast was starry-eyed after the first time she lay with Furiosa. The second time, she took the Dag with her and they stayed with Furiosa all night. Capable came and cuddled with Cheedo that night. They played with each others hair and talked about the Citadel and the future and fell asleep with their legs tangled up together.

The Dag shrugged when Cheedo asked about it later. She only went with Furiosa the once, and didn't follow Toast after her again. "Furiosa didn't want to be touched," the Dag said. She was putting little braids in Cheedo's hair – leaning far back when she needed to get a good look at what she was doing. "Getting to touch is the best part? So Toast had a lot of fun. It was nice, but I like sleeping with you better."

Cheedo leaned in and nuzzled noses with the Dag. She nipped at Cheedo's nose, and they both laughed.

Cheedo still wanted to try kissing Furiosa. She watched her Sisters, and waited, and when the time seemed right she acted. It used to be Miss Giddy who would read to the sisters, and Angharad when Miss Giddy's voice was tired. Now it was usually Cheedo or sometimes Capable. Cheedo was already used to reading to the Dag, so she naturally became the one who read to everyone. Cheedo set herself up a nest of cushions, and her sisters all lay with and on her as she read. They only had a little while before the Dag was due for a shift up in the watch spires, and Toast a shift of engineering. Capable was _always_ needed teaching and helping the mothers take care of the children – she'd have worn herself out if her sisters hadn't made sure she took enough breaks for herself.

Cheedo closed the book, carefully marking their place, and gave kisses to her sisters as they all left. Furiosa was close to her, and Cheedo held on to her arm until the others were gone. Furiosa allowed it, a question in her eyes.

"Could I kiss you too?" Cheedo asked.

Furiosa did not pretend not to understand what Cheedo meant, but she hesitated. "You're _young_ , I don't want to hurt you," she said.

"I’m as old as Toast, at _least_!" Cheedo protested. They were almost the same age, as close as they could figure out. They were both adults. "I know I almost never bleed, but Miss Giddy said some women don't so it doesn't mean anything. I know what I do and don't want, and I want to kiss and maybe lie with you. If you want."

Furiosa softened, exhaling a brief laugh through her nose, and leaned down to give Cheedo the kiss she wanted. Her lips were dry and a little chapped, but her mouth was soft against Cheedo's. Cheedo traced her fingertips lightly across Furiosa's soft jawline, and Furiosa's breath caught. They sank against the cushions together, sharing soft little kisses and cuddling closer than the two of them had before. Furiosa's short arm rested on Cheedo's waist, holding her close but not _keeping_ her. Furiosa was bigger and stronger than any of Cheedo's other sisters, but she felt good to lay against and kiss.

They had a little moment alone together, but they could not linger long. There was always _something_ to be done in the Citadel. Furiosa was smiling softly with her eyes bright when they drew apart.

"Would you like to do this more, another time?" Cheedo asked.

Furiosa pressed her forehead against Cheedo's, holding her close. "Of course... I am so lucky to have my sisters."

Cheedo rubbed her nose against Furiosa's, surprising a little laugh out of her. "We all are," she said.

 

They were all different together, Cheedo noticed. She'd known that she and Toast were different than the Dag and Toast and different again from all three of them together or any of them with Capable, but she noticed it more with Furiosa among them.

Furiosa and Toast were all laughing and tussling, biting kisses as they wrestled. Furiosa and and Mags were friends – easy companionship and occasional pleasure. Furiosa and the Valkyrie, both of them tough as anyone and absolutely vicious when they sparred, were incredibly gentle together when they kissed. Cheedo didn't know if they ever did more than kiss, but their bond was strong and beautiful.

Cheedo and Furiosa were in no hurry. Furiosa often slept with the Valkyrie and sometimes Toast or Mags, and Cheedo had the Dag and sometimes Toast, and they all cuddled with Capable on some nights. Still, Furiosa and Cheedo made time for each other too. They felt good together, but there was no rush. They were sisters, and nothing was going to tear them apart now. They progressed gradually together; with Cheedo whispering that she liked to be kissed and stroked but never grabbed or pinched or scratched and never _ever_ entered anywhere with fingers, and Furiosa answering with where Cheedo might touch her in return. Cheedo could touch most of Furiosa, if she asked first – but never between her legs.

Furiosa clearly enjoyed everything she did with all of them, but Cheedo had never seen Furiosa take physical pleasure except that once with Mags.

They were washing up together, sponge-bathing out of same bucket, the first time they really lay together. There was no more wasted water in the Citadel, no more lavish baths, but there was enough for them to get clean. Cheedo felt comfortable enough to be naked with Furiosa, and Furiosa was wearing only a brief wrap around her hips for underthings. Her breasts seemed smaller when they were not squished up and pressed into cleavage by her undershirt, her waist less slender when it was not squeezed in her body armor, but she was still Cheedo's sister and beautiful to her. Her body was strong, and bore the scars of a rough life and of their escape and victory, and Cheedo loved her and loved touching her.

They helped each other wash up, scrubbed each other’s backs, and got to kissing. When Furiosa offered to go down between Cheedo's legs, she agreed readily. She'd heard from Toast that Furiosa's mouth was wonderful. Furiosa had claimed performing the act as her favorite.

It was almost uncomfortable for a moment, sitting on a bench and opening her legs with Furiosa between them. But Furiosa smiled as though she could hardly believe the honor, and the touch of her hand and her short arm were gentle on Cheedo's thighs. Then her tongue was on Cheedo's sex, licking through her folds and centering unerringly on her clit. Furiosa's tongue was meltingly soft, and hot and so slick and _perfect._ All Cheedo could do was pet Furiosa's head and moan her encouragement. All she could do was bask in the pleasure.

Cheedo did not know how long it took her to climax. She wanted to finish so much she thought she might die, and she never wanted the feel of Furiosa's mouth on her to end. Furiosa answered each of Cheedo's moans with her own. Cheedo cried a broken half of Furiosa's name when she finally crested the edge and fell into the trembles of orgasm. Furiosa rode her through it, until Cheedo was too sensitive for more and squirmed away. She'd left a wet spot behind on the bench, and Furiosa met Cheedo's eye before she leaned forward and licked it up as though she were dying of thirst.

It was either the filthiest or most beautiful thing Cheedo had ever seen.

Furiosa touched herself through her hip wrap, and then quickly drew her hand away – touched and pulled away again – as she got herself a drink of real water. She was flushed to match the warmth flooding through Cheedo, breathing hard.

"Touch yourself," Cheedo encouraged softly. "Let me kiss you?"

Furiosa hesitated a long moment before she relented and came to Cheedo's arms. Furiosa's mouth was still a little tart and slick from Cheedo's sex, her breath catching against Cheedo's lips as she reached into her underthings to rub herself.

Furiosa nudged Cheedo's hand with her short arm, urging it toward her chest with a whisper of 'please', and Cheedo was more than happy touch her breasts. They were small but they were lovely, and Cheedo told her so. She loved how Furiosa's breasts felt in her hands, how soft they were against her cheeks, how sensitive they were under her mouth.

Furiosa finished quickly, almost silently. Her body arched up with a little gasp, a tremble passed through her, and she was done. With the Dag or Toast, Cheedo would have pushed for another climax beyond such a small one, but Furiosa did not seem to want that. She kissed Cheedo, soft and close and wonderful.

They did not have long alone, before the Dag came in all covered in garden dirt with a bucket to clean herself. She chastised them for hogging the washroom so long.

Cheedo laughed and kissed the Dag, and she and Furiosa gathered their things and went their own ways.

 

One quiet night when the Dag was on watch, Cheedo went to sleep in Furiosa's bed. Furiosa had a little canopy of fabric around her space, so it was close and quiet and dark. They kissed, some, but no more than that. Furiosa rolled on her side to sleep, and Cheedo cuddled close to her warm back.

"Do you think you would ever want someone to touch you?" Cheedo asked. Furiosa's back stiffened, muscles tightening, and Cheedo quickly pressed a small kiss to the back of her neck in apology. "I didn't mean... I _understand_ being hurt and not wanting to be touched. I never thought I would want anything inside me, but then I did a little bit recently? And when I asked the Dag to do it for me it was still a little bad but mostly nice? I think it could be more and more nice if I keep trying it when it feels good. I think it might be something that doesn't have to be bad forever, for me." She kissed Furiosa's neck again. "You don't ever have to let anyone touch you, if it hurts you."

Furiosa sighed, rolling over onto her belly to be able to meet Cheedo's eye. "It's not what would hurt me, Cheedo, it's what would hurt you." She traced her fingertips gently across Cheedo's cheek. "And I won't hurt you."

"I won't hurt you either," Cheedo promised. "You're my sister, and I love you." she kissed Furiosa, just a light peck on the cheek to show that she meant it. "I trust you."

Furiosa breathed that surprised little laugh she still gave sometimes when she could not believe she really had her sisters, and their own new green place. Their own land of many mothers. She pressed her forehead against Cheedo's, petting the braids the Dag had put in her hair.

"I'm not what you would expect. I'm not like most women," she explained.

She must have been able to see the question in Cheedo's face, but she did not answer it. She rolled away onto her back and was silent. Cheedo hesitated, wondering if Furiosa wanted to be left alone now, but Furiosa made space for her at her side when she finally scooted over to cuddle again. Cheedo did not ask again. She thought maybe they were going to fall asleep with no more conversation, but Furiosa was not calming. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again silently twice before she finally whispered, almost too quiet to hear.

"When I was born... they thought I was a boy."

"But..." Cheedo's brow furrowed. Why would they think she was a boy? It didn't make sense.

"But I _wasn't_." Furiosa shook her head hard, eyes gleaming extra bright in the faint light that showed through the drapes. "I'm a girl. _Was_ a girl, I'm a woman. No matter what parts I had."

Cheedo's entire body went very still when she realized what Furiosa was saying. What she meant. Cheedo could barely even breathe, heartbeat thudding loud in her skull.

"It's not like a man. It's small, and it's always soft. I couldn't fuck anyone if I wanted to and I _don't want to_. I cut my balls out myself." Furiosa was whispering fast. Her hand trembled when she half-reached toward Cheedo but stopped herself, covering her own eyes with it instead. "I won't hurt you Cheedo, I promise." her voice shook on the whisper.

Furiosa was afraid, and the iron hand around Cheedo's lungs loosened all at once on the realization. Furiosa, who could face death down without blinking, was afraid. Furiosa was promising not to hurt Cheedo but _she_ was the one who was hurting and afraid.

Cheedo nuzzled her cheek against Furiosa's, pressing closer to her. "We are sisters," Cheedo whispered against her ear. "You are my sister, and I love you, and I trust you."

Furiosa sniffled hard, bright gleam of a tear squeezing between her fingers. Cheedo kissed it from her cheek.

There was no more talking for a little while. They held each other close, rocking gently together until they were both calm again. They settled into regular cuddling again, with Furiosa on her back and Cheedo's head resting on her shoulder.

"You cut out your... things?" Cheedo finally asked. She couldn't say 'balls', she couldn't quite get her mind around Furiosa ever having such a thing.

"I was ten," Furiosa whispered, willing to tell the story. "The Vuvalini were going to send me away to make me live with the brother bands. They would have sent me at eight or nine, but I begged to stay. And I knew what those things were going to do to my body. I didn't want to grow up like that, and I already knew field surgery and animal butchering so I figured... I took my sharpest knife, and catgut and a needle, and I did it."

"Ouch," Cheedo whispered, pressing closer to Furiosa.

Furiosa laughed breathlessly, giving Cheedo a squeeze. "Yeah. I thought I was going to be so tough, take them out and not tell anyone until it was healed. Just ride through it, like my mothers did the pain of their cycles. Then I thought I was going to _die_ of the pain. I barely made it back to camp, but I remember I was laughing when I told them what I'd done. They patched me up so I didn't bleed out or die of infection, but they didn't know what to do with me. No one had ever done what I did before. They argued back and forth, until finally Katie Concannon stood up and said 'if she wants it so bad, I'll initiate her myself'. And that was that."

"And you were one of the Vuvalini, a sister among sisters and a daughter of many mothers." Cheedo knew the story from there. Furiosa had told it to all the Sisters.

"I was, and I am again," Furiosa smiled.

"And we're all so lucky to have you," Cheedo said, and pressed a kiss to the corner of Furiosa's mouth.

 

Settling down to read in the evening could take time. People needed drinks of water, and Spirited needed to be settled, and everyone readjusted cushions around Cheedo until they were all comfortable to read.

Max was visiting today, trading maps and information for supplies. The Sisters had welcomed him, eager to show him all they'd done in the Citadel. They'd fed him, and he'd walked the treadmill to pump water - as all those who were able did - to wash himself. He looked better clean. Max sat on the floor by their feet as they all cuddled, curious but not crowding them. He seemed to realize what a rare privilege he'd been granted in being invited to read with them.

"Where were we?" Cheedo asked, carefully opening the precious old book.

"Minas Tirith!" the Dag reminded. "How much longer until we get back to Frodo? I'm worried about her."

"She's got her Sam," Toast reminded. "She'll look after Frodo." There were agreeing murmurs from the rest of their sisters. Max looked up, brow wrinkled in confusion. He looked like he was going to correct them, but Capable poked him in the side with her toes and he ducked down and didn't say anything. Cheedo grinned. The Sisters had figured out quickly that this story, and most stories really, were much better if almost everyone was changed to 'she'.

The Dag cuddled just a little closer to Cheedo, and Cheedo kissed her cheek. Furiosa was still rearranging herself to Cheedo's other side, and Cheedo kissed her to get her to settle.

Cheedo had her sisters around her, and looking around at them she was so proud it nearly hurt. They had each other, and they had the citadel. They'd taken the very stronghold of their oppressor, and built it into a place where everyone could live, and thrive, and be safe. Even if it was just one tiny part of the whole broken world, they were healing this place. There would always be more work to do, but it was work worth doing.

They were the Sisters of the Citadel, good women, strong women with their strongest bonds to each other. Cheedo smiled as she settled in to read a story about love and loyalty and honor and the power of one small unlikely group to change the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin
> 
> <3  
> TS


End file.
